


The Way We Were

by Roswigoru



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Canon, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-01-16 08:26:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18517666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roswigoru/pseuds/Roswigoru
Summary: "Whatever we are, I still remember the way we were"Long before the botched ferry job, before Micah, before lost causes and Pinkertons, there was just a hopeful group of orphans and gunslingers living as a family.He was a charismatic leader of the misfits, she was a socialite who lost everything. Drunk with freedom, money and love, will they find the way out of the woods, when darkness falls?





	1. Daydream

**Author's Note:**

> Felt there's a certain void when it comes to fics about early days of the gang and about certain Annabelle.  
> Had a bunch of headcanons about them and decided to go with it. 
> 
> A lot of speculations and ideas, but trying to follow the canon.

If anyone knew where their choices will bring them, would anyone ever do anything? Would young naïve ladies give up their dainty dresses and polished rings and jump into open arms of another lad with beautiful speeches only to loose everything? Would young boys chase after another fine girl if they knew that their hearts would be broken? Would we still take it knowing that there’s bitterness in everything? Are all these luscious moments worth any violent end? 

“This should do it” Annabelle said, pulling out needle out of a little boy’s upper arm. And although she tried to smile and relax the boy, he still covered the spot with bitterness and ran to his mother. 

“Drink a lot of water and don’t scratch the vaccination spot” the words caught the boy as he was poking the spot and he shamefully hid his hands behind him. His mother was not bothered and was more caring of her older children, who were looking at a picture of female anatomy laughing. 

“How much do I owe you?” asked the mother as she shooed her kids into the waiting room. 

“Nothing. Everything is covered by our lovely Governor”

“Well. Lovely. Have a good day, miss Winters”

“Doctor Winters. Say hello to Mr. Johnson from me” Annabelle left the lady with the meanest of smiles and closed the door in front of her face.

 

She poured herself a glass of water and dropped in her seat, ready to fill out enormous amount of paperwork dropped at her by another doctor in the clinic. If only her mother could see her right now. Just as she predicted – stuck in a dirt hole in the middle of nowhere, filling paperwork for another buffoon, who by an interesting coincidence gets all the cases, leaving nagging mothers, whiny drunkard and paperwork for the lady. 

She sighed and looked outside of the dirty, dusty window. Godforsaken Arizonian town was usually pretty quiet in this time of day, but now it seemed as if it was too quiet. Some unusual commotion somewhere in the deeper, darker ends of streets caught her attention, although seemed like nothing particular.

“Miss Winters” a loud low voice of Doctor Finlay called startling Annabelle.

“Doctor Winters” she murmured under her breath, but complied and went to the waiting room where heavy man was waiting for her. 

“Would you like to tell me what is this?” he bellowed and handed a piece of paper to her. She didn’t need to look at it. She was pretty sure if was another complaint. There had been a certain number of those in the past, resulting in Annabelle’s terminations, constant moving and search for a place to settle. Another city and nothing was changing, since relocation did nothing to her pride and arrogance. 

“I told you I do better doing surgeries and treatments. Was your call after all” she said defensively.

“Listen, missy! I don’t care who you were before coming here. Quite frankly, even if you were Queen Victoria herself. I don’t give two shits” with every word his voice was getting louder and louder, shaking glass in the windows. 

Things were about to get ugly, as Annabelle started breathing loudly and pressing her lips together with so much strength, they were getting blue. But just as she opened her mouth…

BANG

The front doors busted open and three men barged in. The oldest closed the doors promptly, while other one was carrying third man who seemed injured. 

“I don’t see anyone following” said the man at the door assuring the others. 

“Good day, good people. It appears that my dear friend got himself into some trouble” the other turned and addressed the startled doctors. He had dark hair combed back and a rather expensive jacket. The shoulder and sleeve of his white shirt was covered in blood of his companion, who was panting and sometimes grunt. 

Both Annabelle and doctor Finlay looked at the gun holsters that all three men had and then looked at each other.

“Listen, gentlemen I don’t want to have no problem. Please kindly leave the clinic or I would have to” started Finlay, but was interrupted by his colleague. 

“I’d do it” proudly said Annabelle ”My office is on the right”

“Thank you, Doctor” the man emphasized the last word as he threw a look at the startled man and carried the wounded into the office, followed by Annabelle and the older man. 

“Nonsense!” shrieked doctor Finlay and stormed out of the building. 

 

“Have him seated on the chair over there” Annabelle pointed and washed her hands and grabbed everything she needed “So, what have you done, gentlemen. Robbed a bank?” she smirked, but all three men just silently looked at her and her joke didn’t sound like a joke anymore. 

She sat next to the wounded man and cut his shirt around the injury. He had a gunshot wound at upper left arm and although he lost quite a lot of blood around, overall it seemed non-dangerous. The guy was young and burly, but seemed to be half-dazed. He loudly grunted and jerked away when she started cleaning the wound with the gauze.

“I need you to be steady, ok? What’s your name?” she quietly questioned.

“Arthur” “Albert” the wounded man and the older man responded at the same time, startled by the other one. 

“All right, Arthur-Albert.” Annabelle smirked “It’s going to sting a little, but I’ll blow some air and it will feel better. Sounds good?” 

He nodded his head and turned his head, so he won’t see what’s happening. 

“It is very gracious of you to agree to treat some fools like us.” The dark haired man said in lower voice as he moved a chair next to the woman and sat down. “To be honest when we walked into the clinic, the last thing I could expect is too be welcomed by such a good-looking lady”. 

“Can you find a better time for that?” barked older man, who was standing on the watch at the window. 

“It’s all fine by me. And don’t get too flattered, sir.” Annabelle smirked as she got rid of the gauze and took tweezers. “Now I will extract the bullet. It will hurt, but will be quick” she addressed the wounded man. 

“I already lost my job and helping a bunch of outlaws is just another cherry on top” she sighed and started digging into the wound and in a blink of an eye a peace of metal made a clinking sound as it was dropped at a metal plate. Surprisingly the boy made no sound although the procedure was very extremely painful.

“Excuse me, madam. But why would you assume we’re outlaws” the man by the window wondered. 

“Storming into clinic with a gunshot? Watching the window this whole time? Albert-Arthur?” Annabelle quipped as she grabbed bandages to cover the wound. “You take me for a ditzy if you think I believed any of what you said.”

“Touché. Did not mean to offend” dark-haired man apologized and looked at the bullet in the sun “But I wouldn’t call it a crime. Merely trying to fix injustices”

“In a nutshell we rob the rich and help the poor” laughed the wounded man. With every round the bandage was making around his shoulder, the more color was appearing on his face. 

“You should’ve read less books like Robin Hood. Knights and chivalry stayed in the medieval times, unfortunately” She lamented “It’s a mere survival nowadays.” 

“That’s a morbid way to see life” said the older man.

“That’s the one my life taught me,” she finished with a sad smile and tied the bandage. “Now, he lost some blood and will need to have a good dinner and some rest tonight. Clean bandages in two days and try not to get shot again.”

“How much do we owe you?” asked the dark-haired man.

“As I said before, I don’t suppose I’m still working here. Consider it a gift”

“We've got company” quickly said the man by the window.

“Use the back door. It leads to the back streets. Go straight, take second turn to the left and then just go through the inner courtyards. Then whenever you are heading to” doctor said while she was throwing away used materials and she never saw surprised looks on all men and a particular smirk on a dark-haired man. 

“I guess we’ll be going. Thank you” said Albert-Arthur and the men quickly walked out. Only the dark-haired man slowed down and turned around. 

“What’s your name, may I ask?” he asked slightly squinting his eyes. 

“Only if you share yours”

“Ulysses Shaw”

“Annabelle” she laughed, not believing any word he said, but playing along. The man’s laughter echoed as he disappeared in the doorway and walked away. 

The girl dropped in her chair still laughing about the encounter. She’s never met real western outlaws and her cheeks very becoming rosy as she was remembering how those men talked to her.

“Dutch. Dutch Van der Linde” the man was back, popping his head into the office, startling the girl. 

“Nice to meet you, Dutch Van der Linde” she nodded

“Likewise, Annabelle”

This time he was actually gone. Annabelle looked outside the window. There was a bunch of lawmen walking around, looking for their targets. She hoped that the tip she gave the men helped them loose the tail and be on their way. The sun was starting to go down, bathing everything in a beautiful gold shine. The girl sat in her office for a while, thinking what kind of life those gunslingers live, what places and people they see everyday and would she ever meet them again. 

As gold light was changing color to blue, she started packing her bag, promising herself to take the train and never look back. Maybe she can return to Boston or New York, where she grew up. Maybe she can find her way back into the big city elites. Suddenly Annabelle’s daydreaming was interrupted as the door was busted open and a bunch of lawmen with Doctor Finley who had a big wide smug smile on his face walked in.

“Annabelle Winters, I suggest you’re not making any sudden moves. You are under arrest for cooperation with certain criminal individuals”


	2. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celebrating the new victory, men find out an unexpected casualty to their deeds.

“Three hundred fifty, three hundred seventy five, four hundred” Hosea muttered under breath as he tried to count money in the dark corner of the saloon. 

Dutch gave him a bored look and switched his attention to Arthur, who was talking to some lady of the night near the bar. By the smug and over-confident look on Arthur’s face, Dutch knew that this is not going to go anywhere. Just like he predicted the woman slapped Arthur across the face as soon as he finished talking. Dutch couldn’t stifle his chuckle and quickly finished his whiskey to hide the smile from returning Arthur. 

“Don’t worry, son.” Dutch supportively patted Arthur’s back as he sat back at the table. “Today is not your day”

“Yeah whatever, Dutch” Arthur groaned and started drinking his beer.

“One thousand and fifty dollars left in total” Hosea proclaimed loudly and dropped paper and pencil on the table. 

“That’s what I call a good catch” Arthur said with smug smile as he looked back at the lady. 

“That should be enough to buy supplies and upgrade the camp” Dutch nodded and smoked a cigar. 

“And then some extra” Hosea smiled and leaned back in his chair “I never believed I will see the day when we rob the bank”

Dutch did not reply, but just gave him a reassuring look and blew out a smoke ring. They spent weeks in planning, scouting and getting information about the bank. It was the unachievable goal, a star on the horizon that neither of men believed would be reachable, a dream that came true.

Just like they planned most lawmen were busy at the mayor’s party, citizens were busy at work and most workers at the bank were loosing their minds from the heat in their workplace. It was clean, quick and simple. It all went perfect but the getaway. They quickly realized that the planned path was blocked and had to improvise on the spot. That’s where Arthur’s lack of speed resulted in him getting shot and eventually lead them to the clinic. 

“Why the lack of faith, old friend?” Dutch turned to Hosea as he moved his cigar out of his mouth. 

“You’re mistaking the lack of faith with clear vision” Hosea replied dryly.

“We are some lucky bastards” Arthur drank out of his beer bottle and smiled. Years of experience taught him when to play silly and when to say something stupid to cool down the situation. There have been days when he stayed silent and then listened to their debates till morning. Some days he liked listening to it. But today was definitely not one of those days. 

“It’s not luck.” Dutch emphasized every word. “Haven’t we made small steps before to finally end here? Haven’t we plan and draft and prepare way ahead and way too precise? Don’t be mistaken, Arthur. There’s no luck in it.” He finished his drink at the end of the speech and sat up, drunk not just with alcohol, but with his own success. 

“Let’s hope all our jobs will be successful like this one” Hosea poured more whiskey in his friend’s glass and raised his own drink.

“To the new beginnings, gentlemen” Dutch raised his glass and loudly clinked it with other men’s ones. 

They spent another hour celebrating their success, dreaming of what world they now can build together. Finally, late at night, drunk as hell, they all went to sleep (Arthur’s bed unfortunately was empty that night). 

 

Morning came too early for the men’s taste, but duty was calling and pretty soon they will need to come back to the camp. Their last day in the city the men started at the local restaurant grabbing last breakfast, before coming back to Miss Grimshaw’s stews. 

“I need to make a stop by the boutique, before getting the supplies” Hosea was fighting with the sausage on his plate, that was slipping away from his fork, while Dutch was drinking a hot, steamy cup of coffee, skipping the food. Arthur was going to join them later. 

“Something nice for Bessie?”  
“Something very nice for Bessie. We were out for a whole week. That’s the least I could do”

“Women. You tell her that you’ve robbed a bank and she’s asking for a new hat” Dutch smiled. 

“One day you’ll fall in love and you’ll be the one buying the new hat” 

“Cursed be that day” they couldn’t help but laugh. Although Hosea knew that one day it will happen, the idea of tender, caring Dutch was too crazy to even imagine. 

“What a delightful image” Arthur fell into an empty chair and unceremoniously stole a sausage from Hosea’s plate. 

“What took you so long, son?”

“This” Arthur proudly dropped a newspaper on the table. “Front page.”

Hosea looked at the article printed front and center. “Brazen Bank Robbery. Three men sought.” He read. 

“Anything about identity or clues?” Dutch lowered his voice.

“They don’t have a clue” Arthur chewed through his words, while finishing Hosea’s breakfast. 

“Nice” Dutch leaned back in his chair. A smug smile appeared on his face. Silently celebrating the success he noticed that Hosea was still reading the newspaper as he furrowed his brows. “What’s the matter?”

“It looks like they got the girl.” 

“The one that helped us?” Dutch’s muscles tensed up and he sat up. 

“Looks like they are going to hang her” Hosea handed the newspaper to Dutch and looked away at the crowd outside.

“What for?” Arthur asked completely clueless.

“For helping us, Arthur” Dutch growled and out down the newspaper. He pressed his lips and crossed arms, general indication that he was thinking about something. 

Arthur touched his shoulder that still stung a little, but was mostly fully healed. He already felt bad that he got shot, slowing them down, but now he knew that an innocent woman will die because of his sloppiness. 

For a while there was total silence at the table. Dutch was looking nowhere, thinking, Hosea was looking at Dutch, trying to read what he’s plotting. 

“Arthur, I will need you to go to the general on your own. I’ll meet you at north road at noon” Dutch finally broke the silence and stood up. He quickly put down the napkin and few coins to tip the waiter. 

“Dutch, we’re wanted men” Hosea stood up as well, tensed up and serious he leaned closer to Dutch. 

“We need a doctor, Hosea. What if Arthur gets shot again?”

“We were fine so far”

“Don’t forget to get canned peaches. John loves those. And an extra tent.” Dutch fixed his jacket and tucked thumbs into his belt. He put his mind to it and Hosea knew that nothing will change his mind. 

“Just be careful” Hosea sat back in his chair, took a cigarette and added under his breath “I hope she’s worth it”

“Get gloves for Bessie on me” Dutch dropped as he walked out. 

“And to think that man was lecturing me on women” Hosea took a long drag.

 

Dutch took slow, heavy steps towards the sheriff’s office. He had no real idea what to say or do when he gets there, but chose to improvise on the go. One thing he knew is that he couldn’t let the woman lose her life for them. Throughout the past few days he had her on his mind, wondering why he revealed his name to her or why she decided to help them. 

“Good morning, partner” Dutch slowly opened the door, letting the sun creep into the dark office.

“Good morning, indeed. Is there a way I can help you?” A young man sat up startled by the unexpected guest. Dutch exhaled with relief. The sheriff was out leaving only his young help in the office. At this moment the plan started to form in his head. 

“Indeed, I believe you can help me. As you can see, we, men, can figure out most of the issues of the world.” Dutch sat down at an empty chair across from the lawman and leaned back. Simple manipulation was Dutch’s poison of choice and he was about to drink every drop of it. “When we have trouble with money, we go to the bank. When we have trouble with neighbor we go to the local community leader. When we have problem with wild animals, we go to the gunman. But as you can see there’s one problem, that we have no solution to.” 

A sudden move caught in the corner of his eye made Dutch stumble on his words. In a prison cell to his right shoulder a small figure stood up and moved closer. He couldn’t see much without dropping his act, but getting her attention was definitely stroking his ego. 

“Drinking, I suppose” the lawmen brought Dutch’s attention back.

“Women” Dutch cut the man. “We can’t solve our issues with women”

“Ah, I see”

“And the issue is that my reputation is now about to be turned to complete shit. All because of a silly woman” Dutch heard a tiny chuckle behind him. “My wife got herself in some trouble, just to spite me”.

“Sounds too familiar. My wife spent last money on a new dress”

“My wife” He paused and started with in darker lower tone of voice. ”Got herself into a bigger trouble. Her trouble brought her into prison”. 

“Oh my”

“Yes, indeed. In fact, I believe she’s in your prison right now”. 

“Oh, our Annabelle is your wife?” He laughed “She did get herself in trouble, all right”

“Yes and I would like to get her out, so my reputation is not going to be harmed” 

“Sir, with all respect, I don’t think that’s possible”

“I believe that everything is possible. And that a noble man like you would not leave a fellow gentleman in a lousy situation like that” with those words Dutch moved closer to the other man and dropped a sum of money on the table. 

“I don’t even know. I guess you’re right indeed.” The lawman took the money carefully and put it in a drawer. “I can assure you, your donation will go towards strengthening the law in this area”. 

With those words he grabbed the jail keys and went towards the cell, followed by Dutch. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw Annabelle standing in the middle of the cell with a smirk on her face, arms crossed slowly shaking her head at Dutch. 

“Oh my dear Annabelle. I’m so happy to see you alive and well” Dutch proclaimed loudly as cell door opened and he opened his arms in an embrace. Annabelle walked under his arm and out of the office.

“You have my deepest gratitude” Dutch gave the lawmen a polite smile as he followed the woman out. 

“Women….” 

 

 

“So that’s one of the genius plans that your work is built on?” Annabelle was walking through the streets, closely followed by Dutch. 

“Played by the ear”

“So what now? They figure out that you’re not my husband any minute now and then we all be hanged” She stopped in her tracks.

“I was going to suggest you ride with us?” Dutch smiled.

“Ride with the gang?” She looked Dutch straight into his eyes. Something about her was totally mesmerizing to Dutch. The way she was holding herself, her sad big green eyes piercing through him, dark curly hair in a messed up-do, the way her clothes clung to her body in all the right places. Dutch woke up from his daze with loud laughter. “You can’t be serious?”

Dutch couldn’t understand what was so ridiculous about his proposition. “We need a doctor”

“That I can’t deny” She smiled, but still stood there hesitating. Annabelle turned around and looked at the sky. 

“What do you have to loose? Stay here and they will hang you. Go with us and they might hang you later” Dutch said after a long silence. 

“Fair enough.” Annabelle looked back at Dutch and smiled. “I just need to get my supplies first”.


	3. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabelle rides with Arthur, Hosea and Dutch to the camp, where she meets the rest of the team and tries to get comfortable.

“What’s taking you so long?” Dutch was getting impatient, standing outside the small white house on the outskirts of the town. Every now and then he checked his pocket watch, seeing how minutes were passing and as more and more late to the meeting with Hosea and Arthur he was. 

Finally, the door opened and Annabelle walked out with two big bags and a few smaller ones. She struggled to even drag them down the front porch. “Aren’t you going to help the lady?” she asked dropping the heaviest duffle bag on the ground. 

Dutch reluctantly grabbed the bag and have put it on his horse, while Annabelle was putting another one on hers. “Jesus, what have you got there?” he inquired as even he struggled to lift the bag.

“I don’t expect your camp to be fully stocked on medical supplies, Mr. Van Der Linde?”

“We could organize some shopping if something would be needed”

“Let’s say I saved you some money till the next heist.” She smirked and got on her horse. “Lead the way”.

 

 

“Well, he’s finally here!” Hosea proclaimed when Dutch finally showed up at the meeting point.

“You can blame me for that” Annabelle said before Dutch had a chance to answer.

“Nice to see you again, madam” Arthur nodded his head. 

“How’s your shoulder, cowboy?” 

“You can check it yourself when we get back to the camp” Arthur finished with a wide smile.

“Hold your horses, Arthur. Let’s get to the camp first and then you can flirt” Hosea laughed. “Glad to see you joining us

“Thank you” Annabelle couldn’t help but laugh at Arthur’s advances.

“If we’re all done with pleasantries, we can head out and maybe we’ll reach the camp before the sun goes down”.

 

They were riding for a little while now, an hour at least. Dutch and Hosea were riding in front, discussing something between each other. Annabelle was watching as Dutch tensed up and then relaxed as topics were changing. She couldn’t help but notice how during harsh topics his knuckles were turning white and his back straightened up. And on the other spectrum when Hosea made a joke, Dutch laughed loudly with his deep chest voice. 

“So, you are our doctor?” Arthur finally found a topic to discuss after trying to get Annabelle’s attention for a while now.

“Yes, looks like it” Annabelle got back from her thoughts and smiled at Arthur, whose existence she forgot about for a second. 

“We do need one. Just a week ago John got himself burned really nasty. We had no idea what to do” 

“Just wash it with cold water or clean with alcohol and let it heal. Hope you remember for the next time”

“I don’t need to, now that you’re here” Arthur smirked. Annabelle couldn’t help but be amused by his attempts at flirt. He was very young and naïve, bewitched by the woman’s beauty. She was older and wiser, his interest flattered her. 

“So how many members are there, besides you, Hosea, Dutch and I guess… John?” 

“There’s also Susan Grimshaw and Karen – they take care of the camp, Herr Strauss – takes care of our finances and Mac and Davey – crazy bastards, but they grow on you and, of cource, Bessie – Hosea’s wife.” 

“Sounds like a nice bunch”

“And I forgot one more addition to the gang.” Arthur waited a long pause, hoping that Annabelle would finish the sentence. “Our new doctor, Annabelle” He finished with a big proud smile. 

She couldn’t help but smile in return. They spent the rest of the ride discussing gang’s history especially few works that Arthur was especially proud of. 

 

 

“Congratulations, you got your way again” Hosea looked back at Annabelle and Arthur talking, making sure that they cannot hear them. He wasn’t very happy with the idea of more new members. The bigger the gang was getting, the more trouble and attention they attracted. He also saw how Dutch looked at the woman. She was going to be another trophy, another mountain climbed, another goal reached. And it’s all fine with Hosea until Dutch would bring the drama in the gang. He has already been through it all with Susan, when the tension and constant fighting was shaking the camp for months straight. 

“No need to be so spiteful” Dutch knew exactly was Hosea was talking about. He did feel bad for the Susan situation, but also thought that it was no one’s business but his and Susan’s. It did turn sour and ugly, but eventually, they found a common ground and called a truce, agree to be respectful of each other and let go. 

He loved the feel of the chase. When he finds another pretty face, he loved seeing how his nicely placed words made them tremble, lose the guard and fall into his arms. It did tickle his ego to be able to do that and especially see people like Arthur try to copy him. Although unsuccessfully.

“You know what I mean.” Hosea persisted. 

“What if I don’t” Dutch played around Hosea’s words. 

“Dutch” Hosea tried to switch conversation into a more serious conversation “I’m not sure we will be able to keep the camp running with a growing number of people”

“We just robbed a bank, do you really think we would run out of money?” Dutch laughed and patted his horse “In addition, John is all grown up now and will ride with us soon.”

“I’m not sure we are ready to raise the stakes”

“Hosea, we already did!” Dutch’s raise his voice. “Look around! We robbed a bank, distributed money and upgraded the camp.”

Hosea couldn’t help but got under Dutch’s influence and felt encouraged and optimistic. But he still added in a lower voice “Just be careful, Dutch”

“Whatever you say, Hosea”

 

“Who’s there?” all of a sudden a voice without a face screamed in the woods.

“It’s us, Davey! Finally, back!” Arthur said loudly to a voice in the trees. 

They reached camp just as the sun started to go down. As soon as they were seen in the camp, everybody gathered, meeting their leader. People stood around Dutch, Hosea, and Arthur as they started proudly retelling the past few days including the robbery and charity work. Arthur started unpacking gifts and trophies, happily giving them to the rest of the gang.

Annabelle felt uncomfortable and stayed behind the celebration. She got off her horse and started unloading her bags, trying to do it as slowly as possible. She tried to look at them from the corner of her eye. She saw how everybody hugged Dutch and Arthur with wide smiles and laughter and a preparing celebration. She noticed how Hosea separated from everyone and was standing with a tall red-haired woman, touching foreheads, having an intimate moment. She noticed how brotherly Arthur was talking to the youngest boy, not older than 14. As she looked back at Dutch their eyes met and he gestured her to come closer. 

“Let me introduce you to someone” Dutch proclaimed as Annabelle moved closer. “This is Annabelle. She was the one to who helped Arthur with his shoulder. She’ll be our new doctor.” 

Dutch continued by introducing every member of the gang to her. Everyone seemed to be happy to see her and accepted her as a new member, except maybe for Susan Grimshaw, who saw from the distance how much trouble she will have with her. 

“As soon as we put her tent up, you can go to her with any health issues. In other time, miss Grimshaw she’s all yours” Dutch added as he put his hand on Annabelle’s shoulder. “Ok, let's get to work, so we can celebrate later”

 

Annabelle watched as her tent got up as she dragged her bags inside. There was not much to unpack or set, aside from a sleeping bag and a bag of medicine and a separate bag full of clothes. When it was done, she sat at the entrance of the tent looking around. 

It felt a little surreal, to be here. She heard a lot about outlaw gangs, how dirty, unruly and unmannered they are. This group of people didn’t feel like that. They felt like a family, everybody helped each other, joked and laughed. Women were working together, cooking dinner. The woman who was with Hosea before walked right by Annabelle. 

“Umh, do you need help?” Anabelle followed the woman.

“What?” She turned around, unaware of someone’s presence. “Don’t worry about it today. I’m sure you had a long ride here.” She walked towards the lake next to the camp and poured some water into the big cauldron she had in her hands. 

“Thank you.” She stood there while the woman worked, not sure if she was welcomed or not. “My name is Annabelle, I don’t think we were introduced.”

“Elizabeth. But call me Bessie.” She turned towards Annabelle and smiled.

“You are Hosea’s wife, aren’t you?” Annabelle inquired.

“Was it that obvious?” Bessie laughed and stood up. Light of the campfire lit her and Annabelle had a chance to look at her. Bessie was a short, plump, red-haired woman with some wrinkles around her eyes that gave away her age. “He can be harsh sometimes, don’t let it get to you. Now, go clean and join everyone at the fire.” 

“Thank you” Annabelle muttered, but the woman was already gone. She still felt like a stranger, but somehow that little exchange with Bessie made her feel easier. She did feel some hostility from Hosea, but couldn’t understand the route of it. 

“Mind joining us at the fire?” Arthur’s voice interrupted Annabelle’s trail of thought. 

“Let me look at your shoulder first, cowboy.” She sat him down at the fire and went back to her tent for a new bandage. When she came back, Arthur was already shirtless and John was sitting next to him.

“You didn’t have to take off the shirt.” Annabelle sat on the log next to Arthur. 

“He just wanted to show off his muscles,” the younger boy said. 

“Shut up!” Arthur growled and pushed John’s shoulder, making him almost fall off the log. Annabelle looked at Arthur, whose face was turning all shades of pink.

“If you worked as much he did, you would’ve taken off your shirt all the time, too” Annabelle smirked and started unwrapping Arthur’s shoulder. John snorted, hoping to make more fun of Arthur and walked away. 

“Thank you,” Arthur said under his breath.

“Don’t flatter yourself.” She looked at the wound, that was healing pretty well and looked like no scar will be left. “You heal pretty well. You don’t even need another bandage.” She traced the wound with her fingers, making Arthur shiver. “Sorry”

“It’s ok,” Arthur said. “It’s cold” He quickly moved away and put his shirt back on. “Thank you, Annabelle” He quickly left, disappearing somewhere in the darkness between tents.

 

Later at night, Annabelle ate stew that women cooked and all the sleepless nights at prison got to her as she started yawning and finding it hard to keep her eyes open. She declined a couple of invitations to join the dancing, singing or just conversations at the fire and quickly went to sleep, listening to unintelligible conversations at the fire. Tomorrow was a difficult day and she knew it.


	4. War and Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabelle finds it difficult to find her place in the gang. She gets herself into trouble with Susan Grimshaw and gets saved by an unexpected person.  
> Later that evening, a solitary walk turns into a great company and an eventful night.
> 
> Thank you for the great comments I've received on previous chapters.
> 
> It took me a while to finish this one, but it's a little longer than previous ones.

It’s been already two weeks since Annabelle joined the gang and so far it wasn’t the most rewarding experience. The woman was lacking in basic housekeeping skills and it was driving Susan crazy. She started by giving the newcomer basic tasks as peel and cut vegetables. Only to end up coming back an hour later and seeing only half of the job done. Then she moved Annabelle to easier chores like getting water from lake or cleaning up. And even there she found a way to make even a tiny mistake that drove Miss Grimshaw mad. At this point, Annabelle felt that nothing she would do will make Susan happy or at least satisfied.  
Annabelle found her only support in Bessie, who took her under her wing. She taught Annabelle how to do good work and please Susan Grimshaw at the same time. Contrary to common sense those were not the same lessons. 

Bessie was suffering from chronic pains and was often guest at Annabelle’s tent. Deep knowledge of local herbs helped Annabelle to make the ointment and the drink. It was also a great excuse not to spend time at the camp when the chores were done. Even though some time passed, she still didn’t feel welcome or at ease with the rest of the people at the camp. Reserved Annabelle was used to almost forgotten fancy small talk more than to a cowboy ramble. 

Before Bessie opened up about her condition, Annabelle spent most of her evenings alone. Sometimes refreshing her knowledge by reading an old medical book. Sometimes she went down to the river. Or spend the night fixing her own burns, cuts, and bruises after doing chores. With Bessie, the evenings got better. As Annabelle was mixing the tea, or making an ointment Bessie would tell stories of the gang’s past. Those stories varied from heartwarming time of Arthur and John joining the gang to adventure ones of first train robberies and heists. Bessie was older and seemed to have spent the major part of her life with Hosea. She would always talk with deep affection about him and Dutch mentioning how their lives changed. 

Besides Bessie, Annabelle also found John to be a good companion. When he wasn’t busy being a stubborn teenager, he would eagerly help Annabelle with chores or with finding herbs on the river bank. Dutch and Hosea were out of the camp for most of the time. She heard something about looking for a new place for camp from Arthur. Yet, it was nothing but talk. 

 

Today Annabelle was awoken by Bessie. She popped her head in her tent and tried to quietly wake up her friend. 

“Annabelle,” she whispered “Wake up! Wake up before Susan gets here!”

“What is going on?” Annabelle slowly propped herself up on the bedroll, squinting her eyes as they adjusted to bright sunlight.

“There’s work to be done and she won't wait for you to wake up,” with those words Bessie disappeared. 

There wasn’t a set time when the gang was waking up or when women were starting working on chores. But Annabelle already learned that if Susan is up, she expects the others to start work with her. Bessie’s morning intrusion meant that Susan has awoken earlier than usual and was about to scold Annabelle for sleeping in. 

Annabelle took a minute to wake up, stretch and rub her eyes. Afterwards, she quickly got up and got dressed. She was done just in time as she bumped into Susan on her way out of the tent.

“Good morning, miss Grimshaw,” Annabelle smiled. 

“Miss Winters,” Susan squinted her eyes and suspiciously looked over the woman “I expect you to join me in the kitchen as soon as possible.”

With those words, she turned around and walked away. Annabelle bit lip to stop herself from smiling. It didn’t help when she met Bessie’s eyes from across the camp, covering her mouth. 

Avoiding getting into trouble, Annabelle quickly washed her face and went to the kitchen. She was ready to do anything Susan will tell her. Wondering what will it be today: peel potatoes, clean the tables or wash clothes, she looked for Susan. It didn’t take her long as Susan was walking with a big smug smile… and two small bloody rabbit bodies. 

“Here’s your work for today,” Susan dropped the bodies on the table in front of the woman. 

Annabelle froze and looked at the bodies. She shifted from one foot to another and looked up at Susan.

“I need you to be done before noon,” Susan cleaned her hand and slowly walked away. “And don’t make a huge mess.”

Annabelle looked at the rabbits again. They had a distinctive metallic smell of blood and wet hair, that was making her flinch. Cold sweat dripped down her back. She put on the apron and wiped sweaty hands off it. From the bottom shelf, she got out a big knife. Every movement was slow and precise. Finally, she couldn’t postpone it any longer and moved the body of the first rabbit towards herself. She put the knife in place to cut the belly open. Right before making the cut, she looked at the rabbit’s head. His black glass-like eye stared back at her. That’s when she felt it the first time. Then she applied pressure to the knife and felt the blade puncturing the skin. Wrong move and blood squirted all across Annabelle’s face. That was the last straw and her stomach gave up. She turned around and threw up in the bushes. 

“Not in my kitchen!!!” she could hear miss Grimshaw screaming from across the camp. 

“You all right?” she heard a familiar voice. Arthur came from behind and put his hand on Annabelle’s back. 

“Been better” Annabelle wiped her mouth. 

“And you call yourself a doctor?” Arthur chuckled, looking around the bloody mess she left on the table.

“I’m used to having my hands inside patients, not my childhood pets” 

“Miss Winters, can you ever do anything right?” Susan’s high pitched voice was cutting through the air. 

“I’ll finish it Susan” Arthur tried to calm her down.

“Let’s have the whole camp do the work for her. Or better, let's have Susan cook, clean, wash your shit. Or you think everything gets done on its own?” Susan fumed. Veins in her neck were throbbing as she walked towards Arthur. 

“That’s enough, Susan” low, commanding voice of Dutch stopped the quarrel. “Arthur, son, come here, I need to talk to you. Miss Grimshaw, clean up and please teach Miss Winters whatever you were doing.” 

Susan grunted and threw her apron on the ground. 

“Or should I remind you of how you poisoned the whole camp with your cooking few times?” Dutch added before disappearing in his tent again.  
Arthur shrugged and followed Dutch, leaving Annabelle on her own. 

“Susan, I’m sorry” started Annabelle. 

“Grab your knife,” she interrupted. “First make the small cut on the belly”

For the next twenty minutes, Susan was explaining how to cut the rabbit. Her tone was steady passive aggressive and from time to time she left snarky remarks. Even though Annabelle did her best, she knew that she was testing Grimshaw’s patience. Thankfully, the whole experience ended pretty fast and Annabelle was demoted back to washing clothes. 

 

 

As the sun went down, the camp had a tasty roasted rabbit for supper. Annabelle was done with chores and after joined others. That evening Mac got out his guitar and played a bunch of travel songs. Annabelle notices that Mac Callander was not like his brother, Davey. Davey was brutal and harsh. And although Mac tried to emulate his brother, he was still softer, nicer and well-mannered. It was a rarity to see him a physical fight or a quarrel. And right now Davey abruptly stopped Mac in the middle of the song. He grabbed the guitar and took it away, leaving his brother on his own. He quickly followed his brother. And soon the whole gang walked back to their tents. 

Annabelle soon went back to her tent, where Bessie was already waiting for her.

“Is it true what I’ve heard?” she quickly inquired. 

“What exactly?” Annabelle smiled as they got in her tent. 

“Did you have a fight with Susan?” 

“Not me,” she answered and looked up at Bessie from her work. “Dutch”

“Dutch had a fight with Susan. For you?” she raised her eyebrow and smiled. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand. “My, oh my!”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Bessie refused to speak up with an enigmatic smile.

“Don’t give me that smile, Bessie!” 

“I didn’t say anything!” 

“Here,” she handed her the drink “Take this and go away with your smiles”.

Annabelle shooed Bessie out of her tent. 

“I’m innocent. Don’t shoot me” Bessie laughed as she raised her hands up.

“Sure! Don’t forget that I now know how to skin rabbits. I’m a dangerous woman”

Bessie laughed loudly and gestured that her lips are sealed. 

 

Left alone, Annabelle checked her herbs, hanging in the corner. The plants, just like any other time, were fine. Then she tried to occupy herself by reading some of the medical books she had. After a few failed attempts to concentrate, she gave up on that as well. The night was still young, Annabelle wasn’t even slightly sleepy. She moved the tent flap and looked outside. The full moon shined bright and light breeze moved tree branches. After a moment of hesitation, she went through the tent flaps and went to the riverbank. 

Annabelle sat down on the big stone and put her feet into the water. Bessie’s remarks puzzled her and she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Why her face changed that much when she said that it was Dutch who got into the fight. Was it because he regrets adding her to the gang? So far she wasn’t useful to them. She wasn’t even sure that they needed a doctor. Not that she ever wanted to be one. And now she’s the chores girl. Annabelle looked at her hands, that were now covered in burns, blisters and small calluses. She let her hair down and run her long fingers through it. 

The night was peaceful and only night birds chirping were breaking the silence from time to time. Almost unaware of it herself, Annabelle started humming an old, almost forgotten melody. It popped up in her head all of a sudden, raising up from the deepest bottoms of the memory a person can have. She probably made up a half of it, but familiar moments and chords would trigger next ones, flowing into one melody.

And as melody remembered itself, Annabelle’s body remembered the long-forgotten movements. Her feet dragged her to the small clearing. There she slowly traced the ground with her foot. She moved from one side to the other, her arms strong and elegant at the same time. She completely lost herself in the dance, at the moment. Until she heard someone’s cough. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Dutch was standing in the distance, smoking a cigar. 

“It is fine. I wasn’t really doing anything” Annabelle straighten her clothes and tried to put her hair back in an up-do. Her hands were shaking from the embarrassment. If the sun was up, Dutch probably could see how red and flustered her face was. 

“What was it?” he asked. 

“What?”

“The melody?” he made few steps towards her, but still kept the distance.

“It’s Giselle, Mr. Van Der Linde” Annabelle looked back at Dutch. She noticed how tired and unkempt he looked. Some stray curls were framing his face, early stubble appeared on his jawline, his vest wasn’t fully buttoned up. 

“Dutch.” he corrected her and took a drag. “Opera?”

“Ballet,” she smiled and stepped closer to the water. Coincidentally also closer to Dutch, who smiled in return.

“I see. I’m not that familiar with ballet. Never seen one.”

“I used to,” Annabelle stopped herself and corrected her sentence “I used to like it. Quite a lot”

“I’ll keep my eye out. In case it is showing somewhere.” A long pause lingered between them. Somehow they both didn’t feel uncomfortable but rather enjoyed this night in the company of the other. Annabelle looked down at the water, noting a clear reflection of the full moon on the water. Dutch used that opportunity and looked at her. 

“I’m sorry for today,” she finally broke the silence and looked at Dutch, meeting his gaze.

“Please don’t worry about it. Susan can be rather harsh sometimes,” he gave Annabelle sympathetic smile “Besides her, how are you holding up?”

“Not bad. Still trying to meet everyone. And find a way to fight this insomnia.”

“If you find it, please share it with me” Dutch joked. 

“Thank you for the company, but I think I’d be going back” Annabelle excused herself.

“Then I hope you won't mind if I walk you back?”

“Not at all,” she replied and started walking. She looked at Dutch again, noticing his unusual appearance “Is everything ok, Dutch?”

“Yes,” he hesitated, but continued “There’s a price on our heads now. And I think we might need to go back on the road.” 

“I see” 

“And as we’re facing the move, we are also running low on money. So now the question is do we do another job or we move?” unexpectedly to himself, Dutch found it very easy to speak to Annabelle. He let her know all the thoughts that were bothering him for a while now. He dropped his cigar and continued “Hosea thinks that it’s better to cut the spending and start moving. I’m afraid that we might not find the right place on time and have no food, no ways to sustain ourselves. I don’t want people to starve.”

“Dutch,” Annabelle stopped and looked him in eyes. “You are our leader. I haven’t spent much time here, but I can assure you that people trust you. Whatever you say we would support you. I can talk to Susan and we can cut rations and I also have some savings…”

“Thank you,” Dutch stopped her, by grabbing her hand “Please don’t worry and please don’t get your savings spent on us. We,” He stopped himself. “I am very grateful. I just hope we are not making a mistake.”

“Whatever you choose, that would be the right choice,” she tried to reassure him. 

Dutch smiled gratefully and let go of her hand. 

“Dutch, I couldn’t help but notice that you have somewhat of a small library?” she asked sleeplessly.

“Yes, I do indeed” he answered and put his thumbs on his belt. He was proud of his small, but good book collection that he was gathering over the past twenty years. 

“Can a girl borrow a book once in a while?” she wondered. 

“Depending on a girl,” Dutch flirted lowering his voice. “Do you want to choose something?”

“Can I? I’m getting tired of going through the same medical books,” She joked. “I’ve spent too much time with childbirth instructions.”

“After you” Dutch welcomed Annabelle to his tent. “Choose whatever you like.”

 

She spent a while going through all of his books. From time to time she gave her opinion on different books that she has read or was familiar with the author. She was able to hold her line and speak up when her opinion was different from Dutch’s. Annabelle didn’t spend too much time in the tent and quickly found a fresh edition of “War and Peace”.

“Never heard about it before.” She said flipping through pages. 

“It’s a good example of modern Russian literature,” Dutch said as he walked closer to check what she chose. She could feel his breath on her shoulder and tremble. 

“Well, I think it’s time to go to sleep.” She rapidly walked out of the tent. “Thank you!”

“Any time” Dutch dropped as she disappeared into the darkness of the night outside.

Annabelle went back to her tent and laid down. She spent the rest of the night thinking about Dutch, his books, his doubts, fight with Grimshaw. And as she was drifting off a melody from Giselle crept back into her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the great comments I've received on previous chapters.
> 
> It took me a while to finish this one, but it's a little longer than previous ones.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think. Haven't written in a very long time.


End file.
